Sexual Racism Is Associated with Lower Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Men Who Have Sex with Men

Thai, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10508-019-1456-z

Original Paper
Published: 12 August 2019

Sexual Racism Is Associated with Lower Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Men Who Have Sex with Men

Michael Thai ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8000-9413^1,2

Archives of Sexual Behavior volume 49, pages 347–353 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Men of color who have sex with men (MCSM) commonly experience sexual racism within the community of men who have sex with men (MSM) and are often rejected as potential sexual and romantic partners as a result. The present study quantitatively investigated whether MCSM experience more race-based sexual discrimination relative to White MSM and whether there is an association between experiences of race-based sexual discrimination and two indicators of psychological well-being, namely self-esteem and life satisfaction. Participants were 1039 Australian MSM (774 White MSM, 265 MCSM) recruited from Grindr, a popular mobile geosocial networking app for MSM, who reported their experiences of race-based sexual discrimination, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Results showed that MCSM experienced significantly more race-based sexual discrimination relative to White MSM, and that race-based sexual discrimination was significantly associated with lower self-esteem and, in turn, lower life satisfaction. These results further corroborate past qualitative work that has long suggested a link between sexual racism and psychological well-being for MCSM. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge Lachlan Macqueen, who assisted with the literature review for this study.

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School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia
Michael Thai
School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia
Michael Thai

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Thai, M. Sexual Racism Is Associated with Lower Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Men Who Have Sex with Men. Arch Sex Behav 49, 347–353 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-1456-z

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Received: 17 January 2019
Revised: 11 March 2019
Accepted: 06 April 2019
Published: 12 August 2019
Issue Date: January 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-1456-z

Keywords

Sexual racism
Psychological well-being
Self-esteem
Life satisfaction
Men who have sex with men
Sexual orientation